Though he's most recently responsible for producing SyFy originals like "Dinoshark" and "Dinocroc vs. Supergator," Roger Corman has a legacy that would make most producers in Hollywood jealous. Not only has he produced more than 300 features (almost all of them profitable) but he's launched the careers of dozens of filmmakers and actors including Peter Bogdanovich, Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Ron Howard, Joe Dante, John Sayles, Peter Fonda, Pam Grier, Bruce Dern and William Shatner among many others. He's been making movies for over half a century and looks to have no signs of slowing down with 6 projects currently in active development. (Just try scrolling down his IMDB page without getting exhausted.) He received an honorary Oscar earlier this year but outside of film buffs and horror fans (who will probably remember his Vincent Price-led Edgar Allen Poe adaptations), he's not likely to be mentioned in the same breath with some of his contemporaries.
Lucky for us director Alex Stapleton has commemorated the prolific filmmaker with "Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel," a terrific documentary about his career featuring interviews from all of the aforementioned icons. He may have produced his fair share of schlock but he also allowed filmmakers and actors the freedom to produce the kinds of subversive films that never would have gotten greenlit at a major studio. It's a candid, funny and educational doc that was one of this writer's favorite films at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and should be on every cinephile's viewing list. The film will be released in select theaters on December 16th via Anchor Bay Films who have just released a trailer and poster, both of which you can see below.
